EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
CUSTOMS REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
STATUTORY RULES 1989 NO. 159
ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR
SCIENCE, CUSTOMS AND SMALL BUSINESS
Section 270 of the Customs Act 1901 (the Act) provides in part that “(1) The Governor-General may make regulations not inconsistent with this Act prescribing all matters which by this Act are required or permitted to be prescribed or as may be necessary or convenient to be prescribed for giving effect to this Act...”
Section 39 of the Act provides in part that “(1) Subject to this Act, where an entry in respect of goods has been made, the Customs may give authority in accordance with the regulations for those goods to be dealt with in accordance with that entry.”.
For the purposes of section 39, regulation 23AA of the Customs Regulations (the Regulations) prescribes the form of the authority to be given by Customs.
The Customs and Excise Legislation Amendment Act 1989 made the following amendments to the Act.
Section 6 amended section 39 of the Act to add the general condition that authority to deal with goods shall be subject to the proviso that an officer of Customs may, within 5 years after entry of the goods, require verification of information that has been supplied to Customs for the purposes of the entry of the goods.
Section 7 inserted new section 161K, which provides in part that “(2) Where a Collector signifies, in a manner prescribed by the regulations, his or her acceptance of an estimate of the value of the goods, ….. the Collector shall, by so signifying, be taken for the purposes of subsection (1) to have determined the customs value of the goods and to have advised their owner of that amount.”.
Section 2 provides for the Customs and Excise Legislation Amendment Act 1989 to commence on 1 July 1989.
This Statutory Rule:
a. amends the form of the authority prescribed by regulation 23AA to take account of the proviso added to section 39 of the Act; and
b. provides that the giving of that authority shall also be the means by which the Collector signifies, for the purposes of subsection 161K(2), his or her acceptance of an estimate of the value of the goods.
Details of the amendments are as follows:
Regulation 1 provides for the amendments to commence on 1 July 1989. This corresponds with the date of commencement of the supporting provisions of the Customs and Excise Legislation Amendment Act 1989.
Regulation 2 amends regulation 23AA to take account of the proviso added to section 39 of the Act. Henceforth, the words “subject to section 39 of the Customs Act” will be contained in that authority, to advert to the general condition applying to the issue of the authority, ie that an officer of Customs may, within 5 years after entry of the goods, require verification of information that has been supplied to Customs for the purposes of the entry of the goods.
Presently, an authority is given in the form prescribed by regulation 23AA by the stamping of documents with a rubber stamp containing the appropriate words.
Regulation 3 inserts a new regulation 108 to provide that the giving of the authority under regulation 23AA shall also be the means by which the Collector signifies, for the purposes of subsection 161K(2), his or her acceptance of an estimate of the value of the goods.